Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 979,160 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,664 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.28% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $26,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BHLB. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,119,475 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $57,455,000 after purchasing an additional 18,307 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.7% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 952,627 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $25,654,000 after buying an additional 114,433 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 105.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 96,380 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,595,000 after buying an additional 49,356 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 60.4% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 422,621 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $9,636,000 after acquiring an additional 159,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $623,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of BHLB opened at $28.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.50 and a 1-year high of $32.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.43 and a 200 day moving average of $26.82.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $125.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.61 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 5.86%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 75.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BHLB. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Berkshire Hills Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.70.

About Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Berkshire Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company provides various deposit accounts, including demand deposit, interest-bearing checking, regular savings, money market savings, time certificates of deposit, and retirement deposit accounts.